Ranking Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Since 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has reshaped the way that viewers have consumed media. While the idea of interwoven continuity between various franchises has been done for years in comics, bringing that to the mainstream moviegoer has been slow-going. To date, there have been multiple attempts to replicate this success with arguably just DC in very recent history succeeding in any form. Marvel breaks up their storytelling into “phases” to differentiate the various story arcs (and sell box sets more efficiently), with their most recent phase beginning with WandaVision, ending with The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and encompassing all the Disney+ and theatrical content released between them. Looking back, here is the best (and the worst) of the Phase Four.

WARNING: The following content contains spoilers for those who have not seen any of the films below.

18. Moon Knight

Moon Knight bottoms out the list purely because of how forgettable it was as an entry. While Oscar Isaac has a great performance, the plot is a less entertaining version of Captain America: The Winter Soldier or the comic event Civil War II without attempting to grapple with the philosophical question at the core of the show. As the show goes on, it gets less interesting and the finale is just a CGI mess that ends in an unfulfilling way where the final confrontation is literally resolved during a Dissociative Identity Disorder-induced blackout that the viewer does not even get to see. It all feels like a set up for a season two that may or may not come and ultimately the show has very little impact on the universe as a whole.

17. What If…?

What If…? also ends up towards the bottom of the list because of the inability for it to live up to the expectations it set for itself. The animation may be beautiful, and episodes like those that introduce Captain Carter and Strange Supreme may be entertaining, however a good amount of the ideas beyond those are less interesting. The leaps of logic involved to get through the story don’t always line up with how things would work, leaving for some stories not making a ton of sense. The biggest mistake the show makes however comes in the form of showing the potential of what could happen in future episodes and then punting those expectations into season two or a spinoff such as zombie Thanos with a mostly complete Infinity Gauntlet, a version of Captain America: The Winter Soldier with Steve Rogers as the Winter Soldier to Peggy’s Captain Carter, a story about Tony Stark on Sakaar, and a story about an Asgardian invasion led by Loki after Thor is killed by Hank Pym.

16. Thor: Love and Thunder

Yet another example of a movie with a ton of wasted potential, Thor: Love and Thunder is the lowest of the theatrical offerings. In fairness, the film does age better on subsequent viewings, however the stakes are way too high for the story they are trying to tell. Bringing in an ancient construct that forms the basis of the universe takes Gorr’s quest away from Thor, making Thor less important to the story overall. The short runtime also harms the movie as it creates a tonal whiplash between emotional scenes and comedic scenes which lessens both their impacts. The romance between Jane and Thor that forms the basis of the resolution of the film also does not feel developed enough, since the entirety of the relationship has to be exposited for the viewer through a montage set to ABBA.

15. Ms. Marvel

The saving grace of Ms. Marvel was that it had a fantastic stylistic choice in the beginning that did eventually fizzle out as the show went along. The effects for Kamala’s powers were not great, probably because the idea of doing hard light constructs on a series budget was probably not the best. The turn in the finale for Kamran does not feel well laid out, while Kamala’s parents suddenly being totally fine with her having and using her powers in a potentially life-or-death situation does not mesh with the way they were acting up until the finale. It seems that it is possible that Kamala’s bangles have some tie to the Quantum Realm (as evidenced by the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer) and may have a tie to Kang the Conqueror going forward, but that isn’t enough to completely redeem the show.

14. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

The second of the special presentations is a perfectly serviceable holiday romp, however it is shallow and kind of forgettable. While it does have some character development for Mantis, the reveal around her character and how the character she reveals the information to does not make the revolution feel earned since the main thrust of the plot revolves around Mantis and Drax on Earth. The animated portions feel just a little off because they look low quality but at the same time they are not a homage to anything. Considering there is a reference to the Rankin and Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from 1964, maybe doing the bit in stop-motion or in the Rankin and Bass 2D animation style would have made the flashbacks look a little better. As a bridge between Thor: Love and Thunder and May’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it does not do enough to make the plot clearer, when based on footage from San Diego Comic Con and the initial trailer for this special indicate that Quill’s longing for Gamora (to refresh those who may have forgotten, the original Gamora was killed in Avengers: Infinity War by Thanos, however she was “resurrected” in Avengers: Endgame via time travel when the 2014 iteration from Guardians of the Galaxy was brought to the present before she turned on Thanos and left Earth after Thanos was defeated to roam the galaxy) is going to be a key motivating factor for his character, however Quill taking the back seat does not service the overarching plot. Still, it has plenty of comedic moments with Nebula getting the best line in the special and the introduction of Cosmo in a more active role is a great addition.

13. WandaVision

Had it not been for the Marvel Studios logo before the show, this would have been a very hard to continue show after the first two episodes. Maybe it was just the first entry since Spider-Man: Far From Home after COVID-19 caused movie theaters to close down and the populace at large was starved for content, maybe it was just the fact that Wanda was processing her grief in a way that was cathartic for viewers to see since they themselves were living through a collective generational trauma, but looking back on WandaVision, it just is not as good as it is in memory. The show takes a while to kick into gear and the mystery doesn’t become apparent until episode four. The strongest episodes are the final two, however it does not make watching the first batch (up until episode seven) more entertaining to watch in retrospect.

12. Hawkeye

Hailee Steinfeld, Florence Pugh, and Iman Vellani are the three strongest new additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Phase Four and, luckily, Hawkeye has two of the three in the cast. The interactions between Kate Bishop and Yelena Belova are some of the most entertaining character moments of the Disney+ shows. While the reintroduction of Wilson Fisk/Kingpin in the finale comes a little out of left field, seeing Vincent D’Onofrio back in the role makes the finale entertaining and sets up 2023’s spinoff Echo in a fun and interesting way. The weakest part of the show (until the finale where he meets with Yelena and they get to properly grieve Natasha’s sacrifice) is Clint and there is definitely a way the story could be told where Clint is not in the story at all and it would have turned out better. That said, the weakness of Clint’s story is not due to Jeremy Renner, it just is a story that’s run its course.

11. Black Widow

Black Widow is a lengthy exercise in developing a legacy character to take over the mantle a deceased character previously held. The movie tells the origin of Natasha Romanoff, has her reconnect with the family she was assigned as part of the Black Widow program, and unravels the conspiracy therein. Even if it is a prequel to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, it serves as a perfect postscript to Natasha’s story while also setting up where the story can go in the future.

10. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness

Marvel’s first real attempt at continuing a narrative from streaming to theatrical proved to be a bit of a mixed bag. At the start, it feels a little disconnected from WandaVision in so much as, much like Jurassic World works assuming the audience is aware that Jurassic Park exists without remembering the plot, the same applies here where it doesn’t require people to have seen WandaVision to understand what’s going on. The promise of the title is never really explored as they really only go to two other universes in the movie, but the visuals are cool, the cameos work within the context of the movie, and the relationship between Strange and Wong is fun to watch. While the original Doctor Strange was marketed as being Marvel’s first horror movie, Sam Raimi makes this movie feel like a true horror movie with some truly scary elements in play.

9. I Am Groot

There was actually debate over whether or not I Am Groot should be included on this list because it really does not amount to too much and is perfectly fine for what it is. That said, considering it's perfectly fine for what it is, it does kind of deserve its spot almost midway through the rankings because they’re entertaining, but shallow. They feel like they should have been included before the theatrical outings similar to how Disney and Pixar tend to put a short in front of their movies when in theaters. At the end of the day, it’s perfectly fine but not worth a rewatch which says a lot considering they’re under ten minutes each.

8. Falcon and the Winter Soldier

If it’s not for the performance of Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, this show is probably a lot lower than this on the list. The show does get a lot of credit because it did the best it could with a bad situation, namely that the plot centered on the release of a deadly virus and had to adjust this on the fly while the show was in production to accommodate the global impact of Covid-19. That said, Isaiah telling his story of what he did, a story that mirrors what Steve Rogers did in Captain America: The First Avenger, and the resulting actions that happened to him as Sam has to reckon with what it means to be black and take on the mantle of Captain America is fantastic. The suit that Sam gets leaves a lot to be desired but so did Steve’s costume in The Avengers so it’ll be interesting to see where it goes.

7. Werewolf by Night

Werewolf by Night was a bold experience in a new storytelling format for Marvel. Directed by noted composer Michael Giacchino, it follows Jack Russell and other monster hunters as they vie for control of the Bloodstone. It’s an interesting movie that commits to its style and is basically entirely self-contained while still expanding out the universe in interesting ways as the more occult side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe begins to grow and expand. This would be an interesting way to flesh out characters as they move into more ensembles and need to tell origin stories, maybe a look back on the decimation of the Nova Corps would be interesting or using this style to tell the origin stories for Storm, Jean Grey, or other X-Men members so it’s not bogging down a movie in narrative bloat.

6. The Eternals

The Eternals should have been a miniseries. What they tried to do in this movie is incredibly ambitious and they do accomplish a lot of what they try to do, however because it is constrained by the two-and-a-half-hour runtime, and has a massive cast, there is a lot leaps of logic that the viewer just kind of has to go with. The flashbacks about the family are great and a lot of the concepts should have been better developed, however the third act fight of this movie against Ikaris trying to keep the Celestial from being born is just incredible.

5. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is probably the best stand-alone title of phase four, feeling entirely self-contained and only setting up further plot points in its post-credit tag. The action is great, the family dynamics work, and it is an expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that is interesting and visually unique. The only real downside of the movie is that the third act does somewhat devolve into a CGI mess with a ton of monsters that is hard to track, however everything leading up to that point is strong enough to carry the movie through the finish line.

4. Loki

In comics, there is something called a “zero issue” that is released every once in a while before a major event or when a new creative team takes over on a long-running ongoing comic. The point of this is to tell the audience what this new change is going to be like, what story the new arc is going to follow, what the new creative team is going to bring to the comic, or some kind of combination of the three. Marvel Studios has done this once before with Captain America: Civil War where it kind of showcased what the Russo Brothers were going to do with their “run” on Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame following Joss Whedon’s run with The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Loki is the zero issue for “The Multiverse Saga” (the collected name for phases four, five, and six) by setting up Kang the Conqueror, a prior iteration of Secret Wars that happened in the past, and bringing Loki back in a way that’s unique. The story with him and Sylvie makes the plot feel like it’s worth watching on a weekly basis. It also has the second strongest finale of the Disney+ shows just behind She-Hulk: Attorney At Law.

3. She-Hulk: Attorney At Law

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is so high on this list because of how well it works as a metacommentary on the response to the show in almost real time, and how it serves as a commentary on the other Disney+ shows. The fact that the things people were saying on social media and in other places was being reflected by the antagonists in the show makes it feel like the show was being made with the speed of South Park. At the same time, the show taking the more episodic approach without having an overarching narrative only for it to all come together haphazardly at the end and have Jennifer Walters leave the show and consult the writers of the show about it is a fitting end and allows for her to talk about how it all kind of felt the same across the various shows. Daredevil gets a great introduction in the show and itfeels exactly like the Matt Murdock of the comics. The effects may not be the best, but that’s easy enough to look past when the show is meant to be a comedy more than an action show.

2. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever works so well on a multitude of levels. It’s a heartfelt and touching tribute to Chadwick Boseman who passed in 2020 and also feels like an organic sequel to continue the story of Wakanda. Ironheart could have been better developed and turned into a character rather than a plot device and Val’s screentime setting up Thunderbolts could have been reduced, however Namor and Talocan in general is such a great addition to the universe that it elevates this movie to something special. On top of that, having Shuri’s first outing as Black Panther have her mirror T’Challa’s where the point of her arc is for her to learn that revenge is not the answer to resolving her grief fits so well.

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home

Far and away Spider-Man: No Way Home is the best entry in phase four. Unlike Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, the third entry does not have the weakness of the first half of the movie that make it a slog to rewatch. Doctor Strange is used a perfect amount and the returning villains and Spider-Men make the movie a fantastic trip down memory lane with some great character moments for everyone involved. The ending is heartbreaking and it works so well as a trilogy of movies to set up an origin to Spider-Man going out on his own and being his own hero independent of Tony Stark.